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Forbes: Honduras Havoc
Forbes just published an opinion piece this morning which challenges the validity of the recent Law Library of Congress report that I covered in my "Schock and Awe" blog nearly a month ago. Considering Forbes' prestige and MSM bona fides, I think it is very significant.
Let's put it in perspective. The Report, CRS LL File No. 2009-002965, was requested by Republican Aaron Schock, one of the group of U.S. legislators who recently visited Honduras in order to undermine official Obama Administration policy on the Honduran coup d'etat. The Report has also risen in the MSM to stand as the primary legal argument to prove that President Zelaya's removal and exile was a legal transition of power and not a coup d'etat. The question lingers: do we have here a case of incompetence within the Law Library of Congress, or do we have a case of intentional disinformation, a species of propaganda?
Both the White House and the State Department must be asking that question. One enterprising conservative Republican blogger, Joe Collins @ Alabama in Between, noted on September 22 that someone at the White House and the State Department used Google to search the report's author, Norma C. Gutierrez - search terms crs norma c. gutierrez and norma c. gutierrez crs honduras respectively.
Let's put it in perspective. The Report, CRS LL File No. 2009-002965, was requested by Republican Aaron Schock, one of the group of U.S. legislators who recently visited Honduras in order to undermine official Obama Administration policy on the Honduran coup d'etat. The Report has also risen in the MSM to stand as the primary legal argument to prove that President Zelaya's removal and exile was a legal transition of power and not a coup d'etat. The question lingers: do we have here a case of incompetence within the Law Library of Congress, or do we have a case of intentional disinformation, a species of propaganda?
Both the White House and the State Department must be asking that question. One enterprising conservative Republican blogger, Joe Collins @ Alabama in Between, noted on September 22 that someone at the White House and the State Department used Google to search the report's author, Norma C. Gutierrez - search terms crs norma c. gutierrez and norma c. gutierrez crs honduras respectively.
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So who is Norma Gutierrez?
And what force does the Law Library of Congress have?
It sort of sounds like the Bush White House asking for legal opinion on torture, then citing the convoluted opinion as valid argument.
It would be nice to find out more about Shock and DeMint's trip, wouldn't it? 'Meeting with business leaders supporting Zelaya's removal' isn't quite enough.
October 23, 2009 8:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
That's good, Wendy - it IS like all the cooked intelligence and warped legal justifications we knew during Bushozoic era. I think the "force" of the LLC is that we expect our congress to be accurately informed on an issue, so cooking reports there should rise to the level of scandal, imo.
I haven't found out much about Gutierrez, other than she did the faulty research. As for the Republican's trip to Honduras, I think that they went there to encourage the coup folks to hold on and not cave into the negotiations.
October 23, 2009 11:12 AM | Reply | Permalink